Agreement Will Help Ensure Effective Communication
with People Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice today announced a comprehensive
settlement agreement under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with Inova
Fairfax Hospital, a hospital serving the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.
The settlement agreement, which is designed to ensure effective communication
with patients or companions who are deaf or hard of hearing, resolves
allegations that the hospital did not appropriately respond to an incident
involving a patient who was hearing-impaired.

“Patients and their families need to be able to communicate with medical
providers for proper diagnosis and treatment,” said Wan J. Kim, Assistant
Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “This agreement should serve as
a model for other hospitals to make certain that individuals who are deaf or
hard of hearing have equal access to medical care and treatment as required by
the ADA.”

The settlement agreement resolves allegations that the hospital did not
appropriately respond to requests to provide a qualified sign language
interpreter for the deaf mother of a pregnant patient who had been involved in
a car accident. Approximately 30 minutes after arrival, while still in the ER,
the patient expressly requested a sign language interpreter for her mother;
however, Inova failed to call for an interpreter until 5 ½ hours after the
initial request. This forced the patient to act as the interpreter for her
mother at the same time that the patient was receiving distressing news about
her own condition.

Under the agreement, the hospital will provide auxiliary aids, when needed, to
family members and companions as well as to patients; assess the communication
needs of individuals with speech or hearing impairments upon their arrival or
at the time an appointment is scheduled; and provide qualified interpreters
(on-site or video interpreting) as soon as possible (and within specified time
limits) when necessary for effective communication, especially in circumstances
involving lengthy or complex interactions such as admissions and detailed
discussions of symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. The hospital has also agreed
to pay the patient and her mother a total of $55,000 in damages.

“Effective communication is particularly critical in the health care setting,”
said Chuck Rosenberg, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “We
are committed to ensuring that individuals with disabilities and their families
are not subjected to unequal treatment because of poor communication with
medical personnel about their symptoms, diagnoses and treatment.”

Title III of the ADA applies to private entities such as hospitals and other
medical care facilities and, among other things, requires that private entities
such as hospitals ensure effective communication with persons with speech,
hearing and vision impairments. People interested in finding out more about
the ADA or the agreement can call the Justice Department’s toll-free ADA
Information Line at 1-800-514-0301 or 1-800-514-0383 (TTY), or access its ADA
Web site at http://www.ada.gov.